Day of the Dead

Skull fashion is still on trend and since I have a set of dies and stamps called "The Day of the Dead, I am sharing with you cards I have made using these.

The Day of the Dead is a time of celebration and remembrance of loved ones who have passed away.  It is held on November 2nd. 

During the days of the Dead, some believe that the souls of the departed return to earth to visit their loved ones.  Families visit the grave site and clean and decorate the graves with candles, flowers and then favourite foods of the deceased are placed on the graves.

The rituals used to celebrate the day are varied and colourful yet all carry the same message that celebrating the day of the dead is a true celebration of life.

  

Big Birthday Celebrations

My wheelchair dance group are very excited to be celebrating the 80th birthday of one of our members this month.

I made this special card for the members to sign and I am sure the recipient is going to love it.

I have used Foundation Cardstock in a beautiful pearlescent navy card stock and have used a striplet die to create the cream background by cutting panels and layering it to produce this pattern.   The chain of flowers around the edge gives it a nice balance.  I cut the sentiment from a Crafter's Companion die.

Love and Cherish Card

I invested in some miniature word dies from Tonic, although they are not exactly miniature, they are fabulous because they cut a background area for the words to fit on so you can have a two tone colour effect.

Here is a card I made showing off these dies.  I just want more of these but with Christmas sentiments as I really like the size as well as the two tone effect.

The fabric was decorated with glitter and then stuck onto some hessian before mounted onto Kraft Card.

V Stitch Blanket Finally Finished

I am not sorry that I have finished really but it was a bit of drag sewing in all the ends as I would have much rather have been crocheting.  But now the ends are sewn in the throw is finished and I am really pleased with it.  Not only that, I have finished it just in time to give it to someone special tomorrow.

Here is the end result plus Misty our little adopted cat.  I counted there are 141 rows and I used a size 4 crochet hook and Stylecraft Special DK Yarn.

Close up it looks like this.  My husband likes it so much I may have to make another one!

Blossomed Heart Corner

It's October and I am still working on the crocheted blanket I started at the beginning of August.  I am sewing in all the ends and this is quite a job.

In the craft room I am making Christmas Cards so today's blog is short and sweet.  I have made a card using Tonic Studio Essential dies, blossomed Heart Corner which I have teamed up with the Posy Pillar Strips.  These dies are so beautiful and delicate so I was very pleased to buy them in the summer sale.  The heart lends itself for inserting a picture or sentiment so I am leaving this plain until it is needed.  If you know anyone that would like a card like this, then get in touch.

Groovi Dreams

One of my friends at work is moving onto a new job and I am so pleased for him as he started off as an Apprentice a few years back before being a PA like myself.  To mark this celebration I made the following card for him and wish him well in his new adventure.

I used some parchment paper from Clarity Stamps and a Groovi template to do the parching.  I had to pierce holes for the mandala before using my snipping scissors to snip away the background.

It took a few days to complete as it is important that you let the parchment rest between goes so that you don't overstretch it.

Carpe Diem - Stamps by Clarity

Clarity Stamps have produced paper pads that make great bases for backgrounds.

In this example I have used some ink to make the sun and hills appear and stamped the girl and branch to complete the scene.

I used a pen to edge the cardstock so it appears as if I have mounted it onto black card stock.  I love the clean fresh look don't you?

Tri fold card with butterfly bracket

I am sharing cards that I have made using my Cameo Silhoutte machine which gave me a chance to use some of my small card toppers.

I like the concept of unwrapping the card before you see the picture as it turns it into a gift card.

The brackets have been decorated with a product called "Hearty Soft Clay" which is lightweight and easy to transform with acrylic paints watercolour pens.  I used my Sparkle Pens on these particular ones.  The molds are from Katy Sue Designs.

I hope you enjoyed looking at these cards.

Crochet Cupcake Keyholder

I keep my keys to hand so that I can access them easily from the side of my powered wheelchair but I felt that they looked a bit unsightly so I decided I would do something about it.

I searched the internet for ideas and came across this idea to crochet a cupcake key cozy designed by Emi Kanesada (Enna Design).  I purchased the pattern and bought the essential wooden bead, cord for the strings and split key ring.

The pattern is available here

Although the pattern is in English, it is also in US terms so you may need a conversion chart such as this to assist you.

I used a 3mm crochet hook as suggested and this is what I created.

The idea is that the keys are hidden inside the cupcake until you need them and then you just pull on them and they come out like this:

It is the coolest design I have seen.  I have decorated mine using sequins but you could just as easily sew on some beads if you wished.

V Stitch Crochet Blanket - end of week 2

This blanket is really taking shape now and it is lovely to see the rows of colour changes in the pattern design.  

I am now more than half way there and working on my second ball of yarns.  These are some of most loveliest shades of yarn I have worked with.  I enjoy working with the pistachio, duck egg blue and storm blue.

Well here we go what do you think.  It is certainly getting big enough to keep me warm whilst I am working on it now of an evening.